Help please! says Excellent signal strength and yet getting incredible slow speeds.

[seaniesharko]

I really can't take this anymore, especially since i have a monthly subscription to WoW and i can't even play it... just wasting money.

Like I said in the title i'm getting really slow surfing speeds even though it says the signal strength is excellent with a speed of 11.0 Mbps. It does vary though, sometimes I get ok speeds, but 95% of the time it's slow.

I'm on a wireless Linksys router, model BEFW11S4 version 4 with a Linksys 2.4 GHz 802.11b Wireless USB Network Adapter.
And I know there is nothing wrong with the router, because when I plug my pc directly into the internet via ethernet cable I get a speed of 100.0 Mbps and fast surfing speed.

Could someone please help me with this problem? I would be extremely grateful for any help... thanks a lot.

[johnwill]

What is the version and patch level of Windows on your machine? Have you considered getting a 802.11g wireless adapter? Also, how close are you to the router, and have you changed the channel of the router to see if wireless interference is the issue?

[seaniesharko]

how do i check the patch level of windows?
what's the main difference between 802.11b and 802.11g?
I am about 2 two rooms over from the router, roughly 30ft.
I really don't know how to change channels on the router. =\
thanks.

[johnwill]

Originally Posted by seaniesharko

how do i check the patch level of windows?

Right click on My Computer, and select Properties.

what's the main difference between 802.11b and 802.11g?

"b" is 11mbit raw data rate, and "g" is 54mb raw data rate. In other words, quite a lot.

I am about 2 two rooms over from the router, roughly 30ft.
I really don't know how to change channels on the router. =\

You access the web based setup of the router and select the wireless configuration. You should see a screen like the following one. Default channel is usually 6, I'd try 1 or 11 first, then the other one.

[seaniesharko]

I apologize for such a late reply. Been having connection issues.

System is XP Home Edition Version 2002 Service Pack 2.

I switched the channel to 11 and it seems to work fine for the most part, but still getting a bit of slowdown. But it's better than it was before.

Any other tips?

Thanks a lot.

[johnwill]

Well, since changing channels helps, it seems very likely that it's interference. One way to help these situations is to try yet another channel, and if it's still an issue, perhaps it's time to boost the signal a bit.

Hawking Tech has a number of products that will help you increase your wireless range. The root page is Hawking Hi-Gain™ WiFi Range Extending Products.

Some of the more interesting products are this Hawking [HSB2] Hi-Gain WiFi Signal Booster, which can be used on either end of a wireless connection to boost the signal power.

Another way to increase your signal strength is by the use of hi-gain antennas. You can choose from omni-directional or directional models, here are a couple of examples.

Hawking [HAI7SIP] Hi-Gain 7dBi Omni-Directional Antenna

Hawking [HAI15SC] Hi-Gain 15dBi Corner Antenna

[seaniesharko]

Thanks a lot for all the help. Definitely going to invest in a hawking tech product. =)

And donate a bit to the site, now that it's helped me twice now.